Lucy and Life
by throughscentandtouch
Summary: She was being bitter, she knew. But she couldn't help it. Lucy Heartfilia had loved Natsu Dragneel for far too long, and now it was too late. So she would hide. Hide in the Mist.


She looked out the window of the moving train, watching as the scenery changed from forest to river to forest again, lost in thought.

Next to her, a certain scarlet haired mage sat, her arms crossed, eyes closed. Next to the warrior sat the ice mage, his shirt stripped off as he snored.  
On the other side of the compartment, Natsu Dragneel sat. Natsu Dragneel was not just anyone. He was a fire mage, dragon slayer, protector of Fairy Tail and all his comrades, Lucy's best friend who introduced her to Fairy Tail, the boy who changed her life, yes. He was all of that.  
But he was also Lisanna Strauss' boyfriend. And sat next to the infamous Salamander was the girl herself; the childhood sweethearts were clearly hopelessly in love.  
But that wasn't a problem for Lucy. It's not like she liked him or anything. It's not as if she went through a period of being locked up in her room for days on end before she forced herself back into the guild, only to lock herself up once again because of Lisanna and Natsu's relationship. It's not like he MEANT anything to her, not more than a friend.  
Pffft. That's just crazy talk.  
I mean, just because her heart sped up when he looked at her, or her chest felt tight when he smiled at her, or she liked how he smelled did NOT mean that he was more important than a good friend.  
Happy the flying blue cat sat between Lisanna and Wendy, who had used her healing magic to keep Natsu from feeling too motion sick. It wasn't as effective as it used to be, but at least he wasn't throwing up.  
Lucy smiled, looking at all her friends. This was Team Natsu. Natsu, Happy, Gray, Erza, and Lucy had been the "original" Team Natsu, sure, but Wendy, Carla, and Lisanna TOTALLY made the team complete.  
"Hey, y'know, remember when we made that promise, Natsu?" Lisanna suddenly spoke quietly to the boy as Wendy and Erza made a ruckus over cake.  
"Hm? Uhh, which promise?" Natsu grinned sheepishly before remembering, "Oh! That promise! ... What about it...?"  
Lucy felt her heart fill with something... Bad. It made her feel uncomfortable, and irritated. And she suddenly wanted to be very far away from Lisanna, but she didn't know why. So, she plastered a smile on her face and pretended to listen to Erza and Wendy.  
Lucy knew what promise they were talking about. When the two were little, they made a promise to marry each other one day.  
Of course, Lucy thought, not all of those childhood promises came true. But if things stayed the way they were now, it would. And she was happy for them.  
Really. She was.  
All she really wanted was for her friends to be happy, she convinced herself, Lisanna and Natsu whispering in quiet, contented tones to each other.  
Yes, she thought, that's all. I want them to be happy.  
Oh, who was she kidding? She was clearly jealous. Of Lisanna, no less. She felt terrible! Lisanna was probably the nicest girl in the universe and Lucy felt the urge to strangle her, for goodness sake!  
What was she to do? Ignore it? Find another guy? Confess? Disregard Lisanna?  
Because the fact was that Lucy didn't just 'like' Natsu Dragneel. As she smiled at his familiar postures and facial expressions as he messed with their friends, she had a realization.  
She didn't want to have that realization; ignorance is bliss, right?  
But her heart whispered to her, not what she wanted to hear, but the exact opposite. Instead of, 'Oh get over yourself Lucy, she deserves him and it's not like you like him. He's annoying,' she got, 'I think... I'm in love.'  
The train began to slow right then, and over the speakers, a woman said, "We have arrived at Onibasu Station. Please exit the train for Onibasu Station."  
Erza looked outside, standing up. "Looks like we're here," she exited the train, looking around for the giant mountain of suitcases she had requested be sent to Oniba.  
"YES! FINALLY!" Natsu cheered, making Lisanna chuckle. Lucy smiled softly to herself but forced it down. If Lisanna saw her acting like this, things could go wrong. She didn't want that.  
"Yeah, yeah, flame brain, just get out so we can get this job done," Gray led the way.  
The client was apparently living in Oniba, but her son had disappeared into the mountain valleys a couple weeks ago, and she was afraid he had been attacked. It wasn't a very high paying job, but the secondary reward for it was supposed to be an ancient fossil of an extinct creature, so Lisanna insisted they go.  
"Hey, Lisanna, are you sure you'll be able to extract the magic power from a fossil?" Lucy asked once again, skeptically eyeing her.  
"Aw, c'mon Luce, even if she can't, it'll be fun!" Natsu grinned, leading the group towards the client's address.  
"I'm sure I can," Lisanna elbowed Natsu in the ribs playfully, which brought a tickle attack upon her.  
Lucy felt her heart twinge and said, "Oh, get a room already you two." If she ignored it long enough, maybe it would go away. The couple began to blush furiously as Gray teased Natsu about his relationship.  
Having reached the address, the group talked to the client briefly before setting off to find her son.  
"So, apparently it's pretty easy to get lost around this time of year because the scenery in the valley is exactly the same; just flowers and grass," Happy informed them.  
The mages walked on(Natsu refused the carriage idea), talking about nothing until the mountains came into view.  
A carpet of purples, pinks, and yellows draped over the hillsides and up the mountains.  
Late spring, Lucy thought, was really quite a beautiful time.  
"We should spread out to search," Wendy suggested. They split up, opting to go in groups of two. Lisanna and Natsu, Wendy and Gray, Carla and Erza, and Lucy decided to go with Happy.  
Lucy kept an eye on the others, knowing them they would easily be distracted by something or another.  
As she watched her friends, she spotted Natsu and Lisanna through the corner of her eye, holding hands. Of course what just HAD to happen while she was watching was for them to kiss.  
Lucy rolled her eyes, pretending to listen to Happy rant about fish.  
She sighed and sat down on a rock, unable to concentrate properly on anything(except Natsu and Lisanna).  
She knew now, too late, that she was in love with Natsu. Her options were: Sabotage their relationship to get Natsu, ignore her love, find someone else and use them to get over Natsu, or confess to him anyways though he has a girlfriend.  
Out of these options, the only one that didn't hurt anyone was to ignore it.  
Yes, Lucy decided. I'll just cover up my feelings. Like a fog, so no one can see it. She'll hide her love, cover it in mist, so her friends can be happy.  
"What's wrong Lucy? Don't you agree that fish are best raw and not smoked?" Happy hovered next to her. She was silent for a little.  
"Happy," Lucy began suddenly, "do you think Natsu and Lisanna are a cute couple?" She knew it was a little blunt, but she couldn't help it now.  
"Huh? Natsu and Lisanna? Yeah, I guess so. It's a little cliche for the childhood lovers to get together but... Well, Natsu still gets me fish. Occasionally. Most of the time he just gets stuff for Lisanna," the blue cat rambled on about Natsu and not buying fish for him as Lucy fingered the flowers next to her.  
She smiled wryly because she knew what kind of flower this was. And oh was it fitting to see.  
Lucy watched Natsu and Lisanna from a distance as she plucked the flower from the ground, tracing the spider-like ends. Eyeing the couple as they frolicked in the meadows without a care in the world, Lucy scoffed internally.  
She was being bitter, she knew. But she couldn't stop it.  
Figuring she should get back to work, she closed her eyes, took a deep breath, placed the spidery flower behind her ear, and continued the search.  
Nigella Damascena. The flower of perplexity. Commonly known as 'Love in the Mist.'


End file.
